Union Maid (Words by Woody Guthrie, New Verse by Women on the P-9 Picket Line, Music: Pretty Red Wing)

May 10, 2025 In

Union Maid (Words by Woody Guthrie, New Verse by Women on the P-9 Picket Line, Music: Pretty Red Wing)

From the Album Boycott Hormel: Live From Austin

There once was a union maid,
she never was afraid
Of goons and ginks and company finks a
and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.
She went to the union hall
when a meeting it was called.
And when those company boys come ’round
She always stood her ground.

Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union,
I’m sticking to the union,
I’m sticking to the union.
Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union,
I’m sticking to the union ’til the day I die.

This union maid was wise
to the tricks of company spies,
She couldn’t be fooled by a company stool,
she’d would always organize.
She always got her way
when she struck for better pay.
She’d show her card to the National Guard
And this is what she’d say

During the Hormel Strike in the middle of winter there was an all women’s picket line in front of their corporate headquarters in Austin, Minnesota. Behind the women was a chain with a lock on it that kept cars from coming in and out of the parking lot. The Sheriff from Austin by the name of Goodnature, drove up and told the women to remove that chain and lock. The women told Sheriff Goodnature, “Sorry Sheriff, but we can’t remove that chain.” The Sheriff said, “Well in that case, I’ll go get a hacksaw and remove it myself.” So off Sheriff Goodnature went to get the hacksaw. When he came back he began to saw and saw and saw until that chain with the lock on it broke and dropped to icy ground. The women started laughing. Sheriff Goodnature than walked over to the guard station and asked, “Whose chain is this?” The guard in the guard station said, “It belongs to Hormel?” Sheriff Goodnature asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?” The guard in the guard station said, “You never asked.”Anyway on that ‘herstoric’ day the women on that picketline assembled this new verses to Union Maids.

A woman’s struggle is hard,
even with a union card
She got to stand on her own two feet.
She can’t be a victim of the male elite.
You can tell Hormel,
That they can go ‘oh well’
Cram their spam, slam their ham,
and stuff their weinies as well.

Music: “Pretty Red Wing”
Words: Woody Guthrie

*New verse by Carrie Garendasy, Mim Olsen, and women on the ‘all women’s picket line’. Narration by Larry Long.

The second stanza of their original verse, which I adapted to be sung in multi-generational settings, sings as follows:

You can tell Hormel,
That they can go to hell
Cram their spam, dam their ham,
and stuff their weinies as well.

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Union Maid (Words by Woody Guthrie, New Verse by Women on the P-9 Picket Line, Music: Pretty Red Wing)